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come from within at some point. Rowe interjected that she agreed, but that it was all about building confidence early on in a female’s career.


Enlightened working practices


Claire Rowe


Bradley referenced research that suggests, “men are promoted based on potential, whereas women are promoted based upon performance”, and asked the roundtable how to pick away at those stereotypes, which prompted a lively debate.


Davis suggested that to change perceptions, we should research what other countries had successfully achieved, and build upon this in the UK. Scandinavian countries, in particular, had been very successful in promoting female leadership in the workplace, and in introducing flexible working and parental leave for both women and men.


Kath Shimmin


McQueen added that it was as important to see matters from a male perspective, there being a lot of expectation around men in roles, some of which made it more difficult for them to be as flexible as maybe they would like to be? Hence, in order to have shared responsibility, as per the Scandinavian model, enlightened men were just as important as women in workplace.


Changing the mind-set amongst youngsters


Mark Akehurst


Napier-Munn moved the discussion on to what additional measures might be required to promote equality in the workplace; for example, would targets and quotas be a good idea?


Eleanor Bradley


Taylor disagreed. “I think it is always best to get promoted to a position on your own merit.” However, she went on to make the point that her generation now had the opportunity to alter perceptions. “We can change the way our children think – already, they don’t perceive colour or gender as a difference unlike many of the older generations. We can set an example by our actions for our children, we can be trailblazers ... and I think everything will be a lot better by the time they start to challenge for board positions in 20 or 30 years’ time.”


Shimmin agreed that the ‘Millennial debate’ would at some point overshadow the gender debate. “Roll forward 30 years, and gender won’t be an issue any longer, because it simply


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won’t occur to the younger generation, and they probably won’t be doing businesses in large, heavily managed corporate structures. The companies we see as being male preserves now, won’t be the same companies in the future.”


The conversation moved on to the attitudes of children. Rowe noted that her daughter was very confident and prepared to argue her corner having seen her mother succeed in the workplace, while Taylor remarked on the difference with the way the younger generation is now approaching the job market; her son is finishing university, but is being very careful about where he is applying for jobs, researching employers who treat their staff well and fairly.


Society’s view of men


Keeping in tune with the theme of the perceptions, Akehurst wondered whether society as a whole had failed to embrace the concept of men being equally responsible for their children in the workplace?


“I drop my kids off at school every morning and I love it. My wife is a primary school teacher and unable to do so, whilst I am lucky to work for a very forward-thinking company where such arrangements are encouraged. However, there still remains the view, among some of the school mums, that this should be my wife’s job. I reckon that most men would love to be able to do what I do, but it’s generally not that well accepted.”


Shimmin accepted that there were double standards operating in society, with some women failing to advance the cause. She gave the example of the time she hired a nanny: “If I had a pound for everytime I was told ‘How lucky you are’, or ‘How can you trust somebody else with your children?’… I don’t think many men would have had to put up with that. Why is it that men can organise their work:life balance, but women can’t?” Taylor agreed whole- heartedly with this observation, having experienced exactly the same reaction herself.


The importance of ‘returners’


McQueen highlighted the importance of succession planning from an HR perspective, with women progressing at the same rate as men in their 30s, but upon their return from maternity leave (hence the term ‘returner’), it was common for them to find that life had changed and they lacked confidence. McQueen admitted that from a personal point of view she had initially found it very tough to come back to work after


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – MARCH/APRIL 2017


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